


Take Flight

by honeyylotus



Series: August Prompts [5]
Category: Howl no Ugoku Shiro | Howl's Moving Castle, Howl's Moving Castle - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Growing Old Together, Memories, No Beta, Old Married Couple, based of the ghibli movie, old sophie, sophie remembers the first day she met Howl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25728799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeyylotus/pseuds/honeyylotus
Summary: Years have gone by since Sophie and Howl fell in love, now Sophie notices she looks just the way she did when she was cursed, but she doesn't mind not when she looks at the equally aged face of Howl beside her. As Sophie reminisces she recalls their first meeting and the look of the city from up in the sky.
Relationships: Sophie Hatter & Howl Pendragon, Sophie Hatter/Howl Pendragon
Series: August Prompts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859458
Kudos: 19





	Take Flight

Many years had passed since Sophie’s first encounter with Howl and as she looked back at the woman now in front of her she was reminded of the curse which had once been placed on her. The round and wrinkly old face she saw was the exact same as it was back then, the only difference now is that instead of just her, there was another face besides hers, equally wrinkled.

“Howl look at us now, we’ve become so old,” She chuckled turning to face her husband, his sapphire eyes still shown with a bright energy and even though he had clearly aged a youthful aura still hung around him, as if the wizard was still that young spritely man.

“We have Sophie, but when I look at you I still see the beautiful young girl who returned my heart to me.” Howl winked back, Sophie rolled her eyes, through all their years together her husband was still such a sweet talker.

“You were blonde when we first met.” Sohpie recalled fondly, her hand reaching up to touch his still blackened locks, even as the rest of him aged, Howl’s hair stayed dark and glossy. “You swooped in out of nowhere, and got me into a lot of mess.”

“Hm, you could be quite the troublemaker yourself Sophie, but I think it worked out quite well for the two of us in the end.” The old man grinned, his hand now covering Sophie’s, fingers lightly tracing the frail skin, drawing patterns and circles across it.

Howl’s touch had always been as light as a feather, even when they first met. Sophie recalled the day clearly still. Where everything else around her seemed to fade, she could summon up the memory of the handsome stranger who approached her that May Day, how his voice rang out strong as he told those guards to leave. Sophie had never encountered magic before then, she had always been comfortable in her ordinary day to day life. The small things she had were enough for her to get by.

But then Howl stepped in, in all his radiant glory, and as he took her by the arm she had felt the adrenaline rise up, from their first touch her life became something new and exciting. Sophie had been frightened at first, but the soothing tone in Howl’s voice kept her mind at ease. If she had known better back then she would have realised it was magic.

When the creatures began leaking out from the shadows, their numbers growing far larger than Sophie could have ever possibly prepared for they began to run. Howl never showed the slightest hint of panic, every move was confident and carefree, even as he lifted her up into the air soaring high above the tall city buildings.

A gasp fell from Sophie’s lips as she watched the ground move further and further away from her, even rooftops were now beneath her. From this height she could see the whole city that had been decorated with banners and flowers through each street, clouds hovered around them as they joined the bright blue sky. 

“Now, straighten your legs and start walking” The calm instruction sounded bizarre for the girl who had never left the safety of the ground below. At first Sophie struggled to gain her composure, her body was prepared for the sudden drop which was surely to come. But it never did. The hands on hers never moved, they held onto her so lightly as if she were something fine, meant to be held with only the utmost care, even so Sophie felt confident that they would not let her go.

With her legs now straight Sophie took her first steps, trying to mirror the movement of the man next to her. It was incredibly odd at first taking steps while floating, and Sophie began to believe she must have been in some sort of a dream, yet even this seemed far out of her imagination. Perhaps she was in another person’s dream, but why she was stuck in it she couldn’t understand. As Sophie settled into their extraordinary walk her unease started to melt away, and as she once again heard the smooth voice she felt herself begin to enjoy the strange experience.

“You are a natural.” The blonde stranger stated and pride bloomed with Sophie spreading from her chest all the way to the tips of her fingers and base of her feet. As they moved over homes and shops Sophie noticed the market place below, she was able to look down at the city street below her, bustling with all sorts of people.

Dapper looking men in their smart suits, young boys chasing girls with ribbons in their hair, finely dressed women adorning their stylish hats and parasols, it seemed to Sophie that everyone must have come out for the festival that day.

Music and chatter filled each street, as every person enjoyed the May Day celebrations surrounding them, young men and women danced around in circles all perfectly timed with one another it was like watching clockwork, while the older generation sipped tea and gossiped merrily and wherever you turned your head children could be spotted running from place to place in their smalls packs. All of them completely unaware of the magic that was going on just above their heads.

Sophie could hardly take her eyes away as she took in the sights, she was entranced by the simplistic beauty of life and it’s joys. She had never taken a high interest in going out and joining her fellow Londoners, but now as she watched from above her heart began to yearn for more.

Landing on the balcony felt all too soon, but even though Sohpie wanted to hold on, wanted to see more, she didn’t say a thing. She allowed herself to be place back on to solid ground, her mind still in such a state of wonder she could barely utter any words out to the mysterious man and as she looked up at him she was once again struck by how beautiful he was, his hair golden in the sunlight with a gentle gaze and the hint of a smile that hadn’t left his face once. When he disappeared Sophie felt like he had taken part of her with him, it turns out he had. She just didn’t know it yet.

If Sophie had ever been asked before whether she thought it possible for someone to walk on air, she would have laughed at thought. Now she would have to tell them that it was rather easy, as long as they had a wizard by their side. Lucky for her she did.

“You are right again Howl, it did work out quite well for the two of us. Far better than well.” Sophie agreed, coming back to her present self now. Long were the days of flying, chases from witches and wars.

Sophie was different from the grumpy woman she had turned into, even with all the aches and pains that had returned to make a home in her body she was happy. Sophie had all she could ever possibly desire, Howl by her side while they spent each day in their humble cottage, surrounded by the flowers Howl would grow just for her. Growing old was not as bad as they had once thought, but both knew they had the other to thank for that.

**Author's Note:**

> I never imagined I'd be writing something for Howl and Sophie but I love them so much and this prompt just seemed to make me think of them! 
> 
> I also love the thought of them growing old together, Sophie having experience in it now would have to calm down her husband who is panicking over finding a grey hair (It's Sophie's but thats what you get for having similar hair length :P) also their meeting is one of my favourite parts of the film! So I just had to combine the two <3
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! If you did please feel free to leave a comment and/or follow me on twitter @honeyylotus I also have commisons open if you're interested <3
> 
> Stay safe!


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